風光る

KAZE HIKARU

MANGA

STATUS
COMPLETE
VOLUMES
45
RELEASE
May 28, 2020
CHAPTERS
245

DESCRIPTION

In the year 1863, a time fraught with violent social upheaval, samurai of all walks of life flock to Kyoto in the hope of joining the Mibu-Roshi—a band of warriors united around their undying loyalty to the Shogunate system. In time, this group would become one of the greatest (and most famous) movements in Japanese history... the Shinsengumi!

Into this fierce milieu steps Kamiya Seizaburo, a young would-be warrior who, though lacking in combat experience, possesses a fiery enthusiasm to both aid the Mibu-Roshi in their mission and to avenge his wrongfully murdered family. One of the Mibu-Roshi's most gifted (and immature) swordsmen, the legendary Okita Soji, agrees to take Seizaburo under his wing. What no one suspects, least of all Soji, is that Seizaburo is actually a girl named Tominaga Sei in disguise!

(Source: VIZ Media)

Note: Volume 45 includes the one-shot "Oo-Edo Shinsengumi! Kaze Hikaru Another World".

CAST

Sei Tominaga
Soji Okita
Hajime Saito
Toshizo Hijikata
Isami Kondo
Keisuke Yamanami
Akesato
Susumu Yamazaki
Heisuke Todo
Sanosuke Harada

CHAPTERS

RELATED TO KAZE HIKARU

Cover Art for Oo-Edo Shinsengumi! Kaze Hikaru Another World

ONE SHOT ActionOo-Edo Shinsengumi! Kaze Hikaru Another World

REVIEWS

inukag
95/100
The charm of Kaze Hikaru is its slow burn romance & dislodging the patriarchal gender structure through Sei, the FL.
Disclaimer: this review is only up until the latest English release volume by VIZ.

The charm of Kaze Hikaru is the slow burn romance, & seeing how Sei fares well in a male-domineering environment. I am glad that Sei reiterates that her being a girl doesn't matter as she can be a bushi on par with men, that she does not have to be what is expected of women in that time. Although I initially have qualms about her character as a bushi in the end still being revolved around a man, the good thing about KH is it dislodges heteronormativity. To Soji, and even to Saito, Sei's gender identity truly didn't matter much. There is also plentiful of iterations in the manga about normativities in sexual preferences, though mostly between men (I have read that sapphics were not much accorded the same way, sadly. And I have yet to read a sapphic manga occurring during the same era, please if you know some recommend them to me...), during Edo period.

Through Sei, we can see a lot of the constraining and dismantling the patriarchal gender structure as she climbs her way up to stand amongst Shinsengumi, which is domineered by mostly men. She has earned her way up and is seen as a bushi on equal footings- and even better than most. Through all these, she constantly hears and deals with archetypal misogyny and sexist remarks, how being Feeling and Emotive is considered as a "girly thing," and how she always has to grapple with herself by being "a man" because what she is doing is not "womanly" enough or what she is doing is still inadequate because she will always be a "woman" at the end of the day. I also love that Sei has shown disdain for traditional gender roles as she expresses herself more freely in non-conformity. How we see the pressures of gender normativity through her as well as the struggles and identity conflict as she navigates through this. How stifling it is that she doesn't meet what was considered a 'norm' and felt insignificant for not fitting in as a bushi as a woman: that she's not supposed to be one yet she also doesn't meet the societal expectations of her as a woman during that time. This all falls on the rigid social dichotomy that is founded in patriarchy.

This manga doesn't weather down how barbaric this period can get, it instead reminds us many times that deaths were inevitable, no matter how unjust- people die and people kill. It's so bittersweet, yet it manages to keep a balance by showing us how there are found joys & bonds in their quotidian lives, which I really loved and stayed for. Love Kaze Hikaru for how unhurriedly progressive the characters are, how the story takes its time to venture into such a fractured era, & mostly how passionate the mangaka is to chronicle historical events. The author's comments are definitely one of the most helpful and engaging in sifting through information from Edo period.

Lastly, on Sei and Soji: a profound love that has a pressing desire to be selfish but resists that very selfishness & instead endures all that is fencing their togetherness for each other’s sake. They can’t find themselves to gather this selfishness (of wanting to be with each other as lovers) because they want their happiness more than anything… and that happiness is mirrored by their shared longing of being by each other's side.

Kaze Hikaru is nowhere near perfect, and I can totally understand that it's not for everyone- but it is still a wonderful manga that deserves more audience. Please read it and let's hope for a more consistent volume release (although I'm aware that the annual one-volume release is a huge reason why people don't read Kaze Hikaru).
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